How easy is it to apply for Adverse Possession?

ProDave

housebuyer143 said:

lookstraightahead said:

housebuyer143 said:

babyblade41 said:

You would be wise to get a solicitor, firstly you will have to find out who owns the land firstly, maybe un registered but owned by someone.

Once that has been established then a surveyor will come out to inspect any boundaries , then notice is sent to neighbouring properties who can object.

If there is a sale linked to this then the LR can expedite it but the procedures are time sensitive so it can be looked at quicker but the steps involved are time sensitive  

Once all that is done and accepted you can get possessory title 

Thanks. I can't see any issues with someone wanting to claim the wasteland. It's literally useless to anyone else. 
I imagine the developers own it as the council would not lay claim to it when I asked. 

I am selling currently, how long do you think the expedite process would take for this?

What is the reason you want it if you can't foresee anyone else wanting it? 

Because it extends my garden by 1m? Why would I not want it.  Seeing as no one backs onto my house and there is a road behind, no one is going to have any use of it.
I bought it like it and have no interest in ripping up the garden to have it match the title. 

You might spend a lot of money for 1M of land.  your garden would have to be really short for 1M extra to make much of a difference.

Unless your fence is out of step with everybody elses, probably no buyer would even notice, title plans are not accurate scale drawings, and on most plans, 1M would hardly show.

I would just sell it as it is, and only if asked, provide documentary evidence to pass to the buyer so they maight at some point claim adverse possession.

But what does your title plan actually show?  In a previous house my title plan clearly showed I owned the land right up to the public footpath and clearly showed the fence on the plan NOT at the edge of my land.  So I moved it.  I did have to get planning permission to move the fence.

housebuyer143

ProDave said:

housebuyer143 said:

lookstraightahead said:

housebuyer143 said:

babyblade41 said:

You would be wise to get a solicitor, firstly you will have to find out who owns the land firstly, maybe un registered but owned by someone.

Once that has been established then a surveyor will come out to inspect any boundaries , then notice is sent to neighbouring properties who can object.

If there is a sale linked to this then the LR can expedite it but the procedures are time sensitive so it can be looked at quicker but the steps involved are time sensitive  

Once all that is done and accepted you can get possessory title 

Thanks. I can't see any issues with someone wanting to claim the wasteland. It's literally useless to anyone else. 
I imagine the developers own it as the council would not lay claim to it when I asked. 

I am selling currently, how long do you think the expedite process would take for this?

What is the reason you want it if you can't foresee anyone else wanting it? 

Because it extends my garden by 1m? Why would I not want it.  Seeing as no one backs onto my house and there is a road behind, no one is going to have any use of it.
I bought it like it and have no interest in ripping up the garden to have it match the title. 

You might spend a lot of money for 1M of land.  your garden would have to be really short for 1M extra to make much of a difference.

Unless your fence is out of step with everybody elses, probably no buyer would even notice, title plans are not accurate scale drawings, and on most plans, 1M would hardly show.

I would just sell it as it is, and only if asked, provide documentary evidence to pass to the buyer so they maight at some point claim adverse possession.

But what does your title plan actually show?  In a previous house my title plan clearly showed I owned the land right up to the public footpath and clearly showed the fence on the plan NOT at the edge of my land.  So I moved it.  I did have to get planning permission to move the fence.

My fence isn't out of step because everyone else next to me took over the wasteland too 🤣
But it does look odd and obvious on the plan that the fence should not be where it is and they outrightly asked if there were any discrepancies with the plan, so I would have had to lie if I said no and I didn't want to be caught in a lie because you never know why they are asking - maybe they have noticed? 

This buyer has a good solicitor from the questions that have been asked so far! 

I agree, 1m should have little baring on the purchase price. Let's just hope the solicitor doesn't make a huge deal of it I suppose 🤞

Land_Registry

Slithery said:

@Land_Registry do you have any input please?

Looks like others have covered things for OP and very much down to what the buyer’s lender/solicitor decides 

Bendy_House

housebuyer143 said:

My fence isn't out of step because everyone else next to me took over the wasteland too 🤣
But it does look odd and obvious on the plan that the fence should not be where it is and they outrightly asked if there were any discrepancies with the plan, so I would have had to lie if I said no and I didn't want to be caught in a lie because you never know why they are asking - maybe they have noticed? 

This buyer has a good solicitor from the questions that have been asked so far! 

I agree, 1m should have little baring on the purchase price. Let's just hope the solicitor doesn't make a huge deal of it I suppose 🤞

It's hard to judge whether you should be upfront about it now, or wait until their solicitor possibly notices it.

If you decide on the former, just say it as it is - it's been like that for X years, all the neighbours have done the same, the land is seemingly unregistered, and very good chance the new owner could apply for AP (can the AP time be transferred like this?).

BUT, you are acknowledging that the actual boundary is as shown on your TDs. The new owner therefore needs to purchase the property on that basis - that there is a small chance that they'll have this strip of land taken off them, but a far greater chance it won't be. Meanwhile, you ain't going to move a fence that hasn't been moved for X years - that'll be their call after purchase, if they want.

housebuyer143

Bendy_House said:

housebuyer143 said:

My fence isn't out of step because everyone else next to me took over the wasteland too 🤣
But it does look odd and obvious on the plan that the fence should not be where it is and they outrightly asked if there were any discrepancies with the plan, so I would have had to lie if I said no and I didn't want to be caught in a lie because you never know why they are asking - maybe they have noticed? 

This buyer has a good solicitor from the questions that have been asked so far! 

I agree, 1m should have little baring on the purchase price. Let's just hope the solicitor doesn't make a huge deal of it I suppose 🤞

It's hard to judge whether you should be upfront about it now, or wait until their solicitor possibly notices it.

If you decide on the former, just say it as it is - it's been like that for X years, all the neighbours have done the same, the land is seemingly unregistered, and very good chance the new owner could apply for AP (can the AP time be transferred like this?).

BUT, you are acknowledging that the actual boundary is as shown on your TDs. The new owner therefore needs to purchase the property on that basis - that there is a small chance that they'll have this strip of land taken off them, but a far greater chance it won't be. Meanwhile, you ain't going to move a fence that hasn't been moved for X years - that'll be their call after purchase, if they want.

Thank you.